Sri Parthasarathy Koil Post Office reopens - Thiruvallikkeni is cheerful

Some things have changed in life.    Some  have lost their sheen for no fault of theirs.   I had earlier posted a poignant tale of this building that once stood majestically and bustled with activity and was brought down in Jan 2011.  This was the property on the  Big Street [do you know it is Veera Raghava Mudali Street], Triplicane, Chennai 600 005.   ” Not sure whether it was named after the famed blind poet ‘andhakak kavi veeraraghavar’.

Nearer  Singarachari Street side of the  Big Street was that once majestic building which housed residential quarters also.  It had ample space in the front for parking of cycles and then bountiful mango tree.  The spacious stairs in curvature lead to two resting place (thinnais) – a porch.  There were two counters,  a makeshift room housing another counter – rest were not accessible to common public.  If you could spend a few hours there, you would perhaps meet all the people in the locality who would have some vocation to be there..

It was the most sought after one of yesteryears –‘the post office’.  This one was officially known as “Parthasarathy Koil S.O” –  a bigger one has been in existence at Triplicane High Road for long.  The modern day youngsters might not know the cost of a Post card; may not even know that such thing exists !  For none of the younger generation are in the habit of writing letter by hand to parents / spouse / brother and sister / loved ones / friend / teacher or somebody else ?  In fact many are not even in the habit of sending / responding personally to e-mails in the age of FB but have lots of time for sending forwards………   Pongal was the time for sending printed messages (pongal vazthukkal). Shops and some on platforms would have a heap of greeting cards, from which one would select sweetly worded for the intended recipient – friends, relatives, teachers and others. Write their names neatly and legibly and post them by affixing postal stamp.  It would give loads of happiness to receive such Greeting cards, a feeling that one is being cared for. 

Do you know that besides the Communication Address viz., Postal address that consists of Door No., Street Name, Area, City …. .. ..there existed something known as PO Bag No. ?   History reveals that it was way back in 1712, Governor Harrison first started a Company Postal Service in Madras to carry mail to Bengal by dak runner. By 1736, a postal system of sorts was in place with a somewhat greater vision. In 1774, a system of charging postage on private letters began. Decades later the postal rules were in place  ~ Chennai General Post Office was initially opened in Fort St. George Square, just outside the Sea Gate, on 1 June 1786. 

Once that Big Street building was demolished – Sri Parthasarathy Koil PO suffered.  It functioned for sometime from the premises of Triplicane PO ~ for sometime it was in the near dilapidated structure at Hanumantharayan Street – for many years residents of Thiruvallikkeni had been waiting patiently, moving mountains in the fond hope that seemingly endless wait of Sri Parthasarathi Koil PO at Thiruvallikkeni would dawn into a reality !!!  ~ not all nursed the hope !

It was of sentimental importance too.  Any search on  Sulekha pages or elsewhere would reveal the names of Post Offices as [certainly not the exhaustive list]:  Adambakkam PO; Adyar PO; Alandur PO; Alwarthirunagar PO; Ambattur PO; Aminjikarai PO; Annanagar PO; Annasalai PO; Mylapore PO; Mandaveli PO; Sholinganallur PO; Sowcarpet PO; T Nagar South PO; Tambaram PO; Taramani PO; Triplicane PO; West Mambalam PO ……….. simply there could be hundreds of post offices but to those residents of Triplicane – the building that housed Thiruvallikkeni Thapal Nilayam is a monument and many would have green stories kindling nostalgia ~ and its name is unique for it is ‘Sri Parthasarathi Koil Post Office’  ….. only one of its genre named not after the locality but after our presiding deity Sri Parthasarathi. 

Today dawned differently as with the concerted efforts of citizens of Thiruvallikkeni, Sri Parthasarathy Koil PO  stands reopened this day 16.12.2015 at North Tank Square Street, in a premises belonging to the Temple.  Thanks are due to many – specifically Mr MGR Vasan, Councillor 116 Ward, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Temple Devasthanam DC and officials, associations of Triplicane including SYMA [special mention of TJ Ramani]  and Friends Association; Brahmins Welfare Association, Triplicane – specific for contributing the advance amount from their funds.  With the efforts of many many people, the Post Office today is a reality bringing cheers to all  here at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

16^th Dec 2015